Edit by Bruce: I wanted to start a new thread with the Toy Fair pics so people wouldn't have to dig 15 pages into the other LotR thread. Some people had already begun discussing the new pics, so I split those off to be part of this thread. Scroll down about five posts to see images of the new sets.Bruce

Thanks for the pictures, Kev. The horse doesn't look as silly as I thought it would. It does have a more realistically shaped head compared to the current horeses, but it looks like it'll blend in fine. The sets look pretty decent too. If only I had some money; it's a terrible time to be a broke TFOL!

Kev wrote:You are the exception, and, of course, there are exceptions. I've been an elementary school teacher since the mid 90s, and the children that like either the LOTR movies or books are few and far between, even during the peak of the movie popularity. The most I could ever get out of the kids when mentioning LOTR is "my dad likes those movies."

Star Wars has been a constant currency of playground activity and classroom chatter ever since the rerelease of the OT, through the prequels, and especially now with the TV show.

Out of the 800 kids at my school, I can name maybe three that are fans of LOTR. None of them were interested in the idea of LOTR legos when I mentioned the new sets to them. They all said they had outgrown them.

Hopefully, the Hobbit will change this.

LOTR is a teen/adult property. Kids fantasy is dominated by HP and the Rick Riordan stuff. I've not known one kid that managed to finish one of the books, let alone the whole series, though a couple try every year. I think once the core sets are done for the Hobbit this fall, the best bet for Lego would be to get out some UCS stuff, like Saruman's tower.

I don't know, all my friends felt more or less the same way, and we didn't have much anything else in common (and no, we didn't meet in some LOTR fan club or something). I do seriously doubt that the lineup will seriously compare with the SW sets in terms of profit, but I'd be surprized if it doesn't surpass Harry Potter and dwarf POTC.

Also thanks for the pics. I'm quite excited to use the new horse, I just hope that it doesn't look silly next to my existing ones. The sets look full of useful parts, the figs look cool (albeit fleshy), and the weapons, helmets and accessories are top knotch (accepting the trajic fate of Gandelf's staff).

Not sure if I'm a big fan of the new horse sort of Duploish looking, the sets look pretty good though. Hopefully they don't use the new horse on non-licensed sets. While I was looking I took a look at the Superheroes sets which look pretty good too. ~KnightMan~

Romans 8:37~ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.My FlickrMy sets

I figured I'd start a new thread, rather than have people digging 15 pages in to the old thread to find these. Images have now come out from Toy Fair of the Tolkien sets.

Gandalf Arrives: Frodo and Gandalf, new horse, small cart.

Attack on Weathertop: Frodo, Merry, Aragorn, 2 Nazgul, 2 new horsesThe ruins open up to show the interior - I didn't know it had this feature. Also, you can see the new Nazgul cape well here.Here's a close up of the horse rearing.

Mines of Moria: Pippin, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir, a cave troll and two Moria orcs. Here's a good pic of the troll, plus you can see that Legolas has a new hairpiece (not the collectible fig version).

Just look at the printing on this guy in the Helm's Deep set. I think it is one of the best figures lego has ever released.There is actually another variation of the fig with different helmet printing here.

Yes... King Theoden may be one of the best minifigs ever created by TLG. I just love that they got the horse on the ridge of the helmet perfect. Eomer is the other fig with the gold printing on the silver/grey helm. Instead of making a new mold for the helm of Theoden, Eomer, and a common rohan soldier they used different colors for the helmet and different printing. All different and yet cohesive as a faction. Genious strategy as the mold is the most expensive part.

I am really blown away with all of these sets. The minifigs are beyond incredible and I really like the builds as well. I truly feel these sets pay homage to the castle fans here at CC. In no other theme have I seen so much detail (and bricks) put into the terrain. And on no other forum has terrain been better built than here when people MOC with their castles.

Their are so many brick bricks in light bley it makes me drool. The detailed interior of helms deep is inspiring. So many weapons. It looks like we will be getting tons of the new CMF highlander longswords and the CMF spears. The banner is awesome as well.

The new horse looks incredible. It appears to me that they will be able to wear the old barding and head pieces. But I would have loved someone to put them on and take a photo to make sure. There is so much to take in. So many photos, so many new molds, too much info...

I imagine that the Hobbit sets due out for the 4th quarter will likely have more Elves, "Moria" style Orcs, Trolls, Wargs and all sorts of Dwarves. At some point I hope LEGO has time to create the Witch King of Angmar and his Steed, Treebeard, Tower of Orthanc and Sauroman, and an aspect of Minas Tirith. My Kingdoms for a Hobbit Hole however

There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be. -Willy Wonka, 1971-

theboywarrior wrote:Ooooh....me like!For the record, I actually like the new horse.....sue me....

I was worried that an updated horse would make the old one look dated and obsolete. But I think they've mananged to do a subtle update to the head shape (and obviously add the rearing legs) so as it shouldn't look to odd next to the 'old style' horses.

So I'm in agreement, I like it. A lot more versatile and less 'duplo-y' than the cows. But will current barding and head armour fit?! (Barding would obviously prevent the hinged action but the over all shape looks fairly similar.